George P. Shultz Lecture Series
GENERAL CARTER F. HAM
COMMANDER, US AFRICA COMMAND
the george p. shultz lecture series resumed this past 8 November when Former Secretary of State George P. Shultz intro- duced the Commander, US Africa Com- mand, General Carter F. Ham, US Army to speak to our Theatre audience.
The US Africa Command is the newest Combatant Command in the JCS’ Unified Command system. General Ham began his talk by telling us why Africa matters and why America should care. Some of the interesting points included the fact that more than a billion people live in Africa, or one-seventh of the global population. The continent includes 54 countries that make up 25% of the members of the United Nations. Africa is home to six of the world’s fastest growing countries.
He then walked us through the geogra-
Below right: General Carter Ham with Secretary Shultz and Charlotte Shultz
phy of Africa, beginning with East Africa, with Somalia being his biggest concern. He described the terrorist organization al- Shabab that is waging a brutal war to topple Somalia’s government, including interfer- ing with relief supplies to 750,000 starving people. He talked about piracy and then continued with his tour, discussing North Africa, where the Arab Awakening began in Tunisia. He discussed the recent military operations in Libya resulting in the demise of Gaddafi. He then discussed the Demo- cratic Republic of Congo. He mentioned the recent deployment of more than 100 Special
Operations warriors deploying to Africa to help Uganda and its neighbors defeat the “Lord’s Resistance Army”.
He summed up the efforts of Afri- ca Command as having the mission of supporting diplomacy, development and defense, with the desired end state in which:
• America, Americans, and American interests are protected from threats emanating from Africa.
• African militaries contribute to the safe- ty, security and stability of their nations and of their regions.
• Africa is not a safe haven for al-Qaida or other violent extremists.
• African peoples are protected from the threat of mass atrocities. African author- ities are adequately supported to prevent mass atrocities and to mitigate the con- sequences of catastrophic events.
He ended his talk by quoting an ancient African proverb:
“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
…and then saying: “We choose to go far. We choose to go together”
The audience question period was par- ticularly interesting. You can view the program at
www.marineclub.com/videos/.
14 Crossroads Winter 2011-12
Photos: Michael Mustacchi
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